Work under way to make M-25 a heritage route

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, November 12, 2008

UPPER THUMB— A stretch of M-25 from Bay City around the Thumb to Port Huron is on the road to becoming established as a Michigan Heritage Route, officials recently announced.

“With the Michigan economy struggling, we feel that the Michigan Heritage Route program can provide opportunities to highlight and promote tourism in and around the Thumb area,” said Doug Wilson, manager at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Cass City Transportation Service Center (TSC), in an Oct. 30 letter to the village of Caseville.

Over the several past years, members of MDOT’s TSC have had meetings with local agencies regarding road improvement projects along M-25, Wilson explained. On several occasions, there have been discussions about establishing M-25 as a Michigan Heritage Route and its potential benefits to Thumb area communities.

Wilsonannounced in his Oct. 30 letter that MDOT has begun an effort to inventory all the scenic, historic and recreational attributes that are visibly evident along M-25. The inventory is a requirement to verify that the route has legitimate features that qualify it for a nomination as a Michigan Heritage Route.

MDOT has entered a contract with the East Central Michigan Regional Planning & Development Commission to inventory and document the type and location of roadside attributes along M-25 from the eastern limits of Bay City to its terminus within the city of Port Huron, according to Wilson’s letter. The inventory work is scheduled to be completed by no later than the end of April 2009. After the inventory’s completed, Wilson said a meeting with all local government agencies along M-25 will be necessary to review the inventory to make sure it is inclusive of all attributes, discuss what “next steps” are necessary within the designation process, and determine if all agencies are willing to take those steps.

Huron County Commissioner Clark Elftman said this is good news for the county.

“That’s a lot of promotion — it’s almost like international publicity,” he said during Wednesday’s board of commissioners meeting.

Elftman said for quite some time, he’s been researching how the M-25 stretch that spans the Thumb could be established as a Michigan Heritage Route. During his work on the matter, he discovered the need for the inventory which was too much for one person to accomplish, he said.

“We were going to do it with an intern,” Elftman said, adding that even with the help of another individual, the inventory still would take quite a long time to complete, and that’s why it’s so beneficial MDOT has contracted out the inventory work.

According to information attached in Wilson’s Oct. 30 letter, the Michigan Heritage Route Program was created by the Public Act 69 of 1993. It is designed to identify, inventory, protect, enhance, and in some cases, promote state trunklines and adjacent land with distinctive or unique scenic, cultural or historic qualities.

The program emphasizes cooperation among local residents, their government officials, landowners and interest groups to preserve unique scenic, historic or recreational highways. It is a grass roots program, requiring involvement by local residents to ensure their highway and roadsides remain in their natural and unspoiled conditions.

There are three categories of heritage routes. The first is Scenic, which include state highways having outstanding natural beauty.

Examples of established Scenic routes include M-22 in Leelanau County; M-123 north of M-28 (passing through both Luce and Chippewa counties in the eastern Upper Peninsula); US-41 from Mine to Copper Harbor in Keweenaw County in the Upper Peninsula; and M-119 through Friendship, Readmond and Cross Village townships.

The second category is Historic, which are highways that have outstanding historical buildings and resources along its length.

Examples of established Historic routes around the state include M-125 through the City of Monroe; M-25 through Bay City; US-2’s Iron County Heritage Trail; Marshall Territorial Road ( I-94BL); US-12 (Michigan Avenue) through Saline; and US-12 in Clinton and Clinton Township.

The third category is Recreational, which includes highways that are maintained not only to serve the recreational driver, but also to capture that recreational setting of the facility or area of itself and set the mood for the recreational experience.